Talk of the Nation

When Americans want to be a part of the national conversation, they turn to Talk of the Nation, NPR's midday news-talk show.

Journalist Neal Conan leads a productive exchange of ideas and opinions on the issues that dominate the news landscape. From politics and public service to education, religion, music and health care, Talk of the Nation offers call-in listeners the opportunity to join enlightening discussions with decision-makers, authors, academicians, and artists from around the world.

Friday, October 14, 2011

Carl Sagan once said that if you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe. In his book The Toaster Project, author and artist Thomas Thwaites describes his effort to build a cheap plastic toaster from scratch, and what the project taught him about material goods, self-reliance, international commerce, and globalization.

If you try to spin a raw egg on a table, you will notice that it doesn't twirl very well--at least compared to a hard boiled egg. Astronaut Don Pettit wondered what would happen if you repeated the experiment in space. Any guesses?

Chemists and materials scientists are trying to learn to build ultra-small, precisely ordered structures for use in optics, electronics, and other applications. Writing in the journal Science, Chad Mirkin and colleagues describe a way to use snippets of DNA to tailor the shape and size of crystal structures, tweaking them to fit specific uses.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

The Quds force is an elite unit of Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps. Experts believe the force has trained proxy groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas and Iraqi Shia insurgents. If the allegations are true, this would mark the first time the Quds force has gone after a target on U.S. soil.

Bill Strickland has biked all over the world, but he remembers best one sharp curve near his home with his daughter in the rear saddle of a tandem bike. The editor-at-large from Bicycling talks about the magazine's collection, "The Ride Of Your Life."

Nine years after he fled Chile, Ariel Dorfman learned many of his prized possessions had been destroyed. His considerable library was caught in floodwaters and half his books were lost. In Feeding on Dreams: Confessions of an Unrepentant Exile, he writes about leaving behind things you love.

After years of turmoil from a flailing auto industry, dwindling population and crumbling infrastructure, there are signs of hope in Detroit. Car makers are making money, home values are rising, and the Lions and Tigers are winning. But Detroit faces a long-term struggle to reinvent itself.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Tuesday night's GOP debate focused on the economy, and most analysts declared Mitt Romney the winner. After Texas Governor Rick Perry's stumbles in the previous debate, Romney's closest rival is now Herman Cain, the former pizza executive who proposed his 9-9-9 tax plan.

A product may be useful and appealing in its own right, but the brand name can make or break its success. In a piece for The New Yorker, staff writer John Colapinto profiles a firm, Lexicon, that's dedicated to matching new products with the right brand names.

The U.S. Preventive Service Task Force recommended against screening for most healthy men, concluding that it causes too much anxiety and leads to unnecessarily aggressive treatment including surgery. Many doctors and patients say they will continue the prostate specific antigen (PSA) blood test.

Anne Boleyn's story is well known. The Queen of England was ultimately charged with treason, incest and adultery, and beheaded. But her big sister, Mary, has mostly been a footnote in history. Alison Weir's Mary Boleyn is the first full biography of the woman known as "the great and infamous whore."

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

On Oct. 11, 1991, law professor Anita Hill testified that then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas had sexually harassed her. Now, 20 years later, Hill is out with Reimagining Equality, a book that was inspired by the letters she received after those hearings.

Actor Alan Cumming got his start with a breakout performance in a 1993 revival of Cabaret. Now he plays pithy and practical political consultant Eli Gold on CBS' The Good Wife. Cumming joins NPR's Neal Conan to discuss his various roles, both on-screen and on-stage.

NPR's new ombudsman, Edward Schumacher-Matos, has spent more than 30 years reporting and editing for some of the nation's most prestigious news outlets. He joins NPR's Neal Conan to talk about what it means to be a journalist and the role journalism plays in a democracy.

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